The attempted assassination of former President Trump underscores the extraordinarily precarious situation America finds itself in at this point in time in history.

Political violence is tragically not unknown in America—the assassination and attempted assassination of American Presidents is a sad reality of the American experience.

That an estranged citizen would convert his personal demons into an action designed to end the life of the person he blamed for what haunts him is sadly a byproduct of a society conditioned to accept violence as a means of resolving disputes, regardless of the underlying legality of the action.

The Second Amendment, and the Supreme Court’s current interpretation of its articulation and implementation, is the living manifestation of this reality.

But America has never before experienced a situation where the political environment itself has contributed so heavily to an atmosphere where political violence is openly advocated by a sitting President and his political party.

The depiction of Donald Trump by President Joe Biden as a criminal who represents a direct threat not only to democracy but also the existential survival of the American Republic creates a causal linkage that leads inevitably to the attempted assassination. Biden’s words have been echoed by the Democratic Party and anti-Trump activists on mainstream and social media in such a fashion that it constitutes a veritable green-lighting of political violence against the former President.

At a time when the American people and nation are fundamentally divided on political issues for which it seems there is no middle ground, when these divisions are articulated in stark existential terms, and when the Democratic Party is already being accused—with good reason—of politicizing and weaponizing the apparatus of judicial power to prevent Donald Trump from successfully challenging Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election, the articulation by Biden and his supporters of Trump as a threat to the survival of the Republic that must be stopped at all costs is little more that an open directive for political violence.

America has never been closer to Civil War at anytime since 1861. The assassination of the former President on the orders—perceived or otherwise—of a sitting president and the establishment he directs would likely result in the permanent irreconcilable division of the nation along ideological grounds and lead to massive outbreaks of violence and the potential fracturing of the physical unity of the nation.

We live in a very precarious moment. The fever pitch of political rhetoric must be cooled down immediately. If both sides cannot walk back their respective political passions, then what happened in Bulter Pennsylvania yesterday will become the inevitable norm, and violence, not reason, will become the chosen means of ideological differences.

And if that is the direction America is heading, God help us all.

@ScottRitter

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@ScottRitter

CNN tonight:

Former Secret Service agent:

President Trump is alive today because of the professionalism of the Secret Service.

Me:

The shooter got off five shots, any one of which could have killed the one man the Secret Service was charged with safeguarding.

The apologists of failure never cease to amaze me.

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@ScottRitter

⁣“Ear Boo Boo”

I think you’re missing the point.

One minuscule deviation of the angle of Trump’s head, and we have pink mist.

And then we have a Civil War.

And if you are promoting that outcome, I simply have no use for you.

America, not Trump, literally dodged a bullet.

So did the world.

As an American, I am very relieved.

As a non-American, you should be too.

I also want to know how this came about.

So it doesn’t happen again.

So I can focus on trying to right the many wrongs that my country has perpetuated.

Wrongs that couldn’t be righted if we were engaged in a Civil War.

A Civil War that would hazard the world.

“Ear Boo Boo”

Do better.

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@ScottRitter

Articulate, please, using a modicum of reality, how you believe your approach will possibly promote a viable peace in the Middle East, and an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Is America at fault for what Israel is doing in Gaza?

Absolutely.

Now tell me how we get from Trump’s “ear boo boo” to peace.

If you like kicking dogs when they are down, that’s your business.

I like solving problems.

And, whether you like it or not, no problem—especially Israel and Gaza—gets resolved while America is at war with itself.

The “ear boo boo” is a big deal.

So was 9/11.

Do we need to do a better job as Americans responding to incidents such as these?

Absolutely.

But you can’t solve a problem without first accurately defining what the problem is.

And there is a huge problem underpinning Trump’s “ear boo boo” that needs to be properly identified and resolved so America can move on.

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@ScottRitter

⁣If you think America didn’t care enough about Israel committing genocide before Trump’s “war boo boo”, imagine the vacuum of concern if Trump had been killed.

I understand your anger and frustration over my country for its many failings.

I share your disgust at the slaughter of innocent life in Gaza and elsewhere which has been encouraged and facilitated by my government.

I want my country to halt its irresponsible policies regarding Gaza.

But you seem oblivious to the problems manifest here in America that make addressing the Gaza crisis an impossibility unless resolved.

Thanks for your passion.

But telling me how bad I suck because of issue A, while issue B is threatening to destroy me, isn’t constructive.

In fact, minimizing issue B makes it seem that my destruction may, in fact, be what you seek.

Which is ok.
I get it.
We suck.

But, with all due respect, I’ll be focussed on solving issue B.
Because the destruction of my country is the last thing I want.

Good luck with solving issue A without me (i.e., America.)

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@ScottRitter

To everyone out there who has put my country in their ideological crosshairs:

I respect you.

I respect your right to your opinion.

In many instances, I support the causes you purport to support and sustain.

But I can’t hate America as many of you do.

Just the opposite—I love America.

Like a parent loves a child.

I will nourish my country, calm it in times of trouble, and defend it in its hour of need.

Children often go astray, and it is the parent’s task to bring them back into line.

Hard love sometimes looks similar to the tactics used by those who wish America harm.

But the difference is I will always be a safe haven for my country, and welcome it back into my arms as a father welcomes the return of a prodigal son.

We apparently want different things when it comes to America.

I want to bring about positive change inside America so we interface with the world in a positive manner.

You seek to save the world by encouraging and facilitating the demise of America.

This makes us enemies, even if we agree on so many other things.

America is the land that I love.

The good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly.

The Constitutional Republic—one nation, indivisible.

And I will give my all in its defense—even as I struggle to change it from within.

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Comments are enabled again.

Constructive criticism is welcome, but NOT speculation, calls for violence and illegal actions, and criticism for criticism's sake, bashing for bashing’s sake.

Either be a constructive and helpful member of the discussion or leave.

@ScottRitter

Brunch with former weapons inspector, author, political analyst @ScottRitter, plus special guests.

August 4 Noon NYC @ TBA

Limited seating. For info credico2014@gmail.com

@ScottRitter

I’ve been a conservative-leaning registered Republican my entire adult life.

My vote, however, is earned, not given—I’ve voted for Republican and Democratic candidates alike over the years.

I’ve also been a huge Bruce Springsteen fan my entire life. His music—especially his lyrics—have appealed to me from day one.

If you read his lyrics, they are literally touching on the same themes J.D. Vance espoused in his book Hillbilly Eligy.

Working class Americans abandoned by the monied elite.

Which is why Bruce’s announcement that he will be leaving the United States for Australia if Trump is reelected is puzzling.

J.D. Vance, Trump’s pick for Vice President, is the personification of the America Springsteen sang about.

And now Springsteen is turning his back on that which he once seemed to champion.

I will still listen to Springsteen—his music is an important part of the soundtrack of my life.

But I will never again conflate his lyrics with the man who wrote them.

Far from being the bard of the working class American, Bruce Springsteen has become a pillar of the monied elite who have brought America to the sad place it currently occupies.

Enjoy Australia, Boss, ‘cause baby you were born to run.

@ScottRitter

Ok, Scott.🙄🤮

Your "concern" for Palestinians means fuck all.

Who is next?